Clearly a big prospect emanating from the UK scene Unified Theories is a brilliant record from erstwhile Perfect Fourths tuning theorist guitarist Ant Law – possibly his most considered album yet as well as one of his starriest to date.
Something of a supergroup the vocals tracks on Unified Theories find fortysomething Edinburgh physics graduate Law with singer Brigitte Beraha from Ensconced released last year.
But really while Beraha participates on the album and the vocals integrate well it’s more of an instrumental group project most pervasively.
In recent years here on marlbank I managed to hear Law play with trumpeter Henry Spencer at the Pizza Express Jazz Club and in the band of Emma Rawicz when the saxist was still an unknown. They were playing a low key but nevertheless fairly remarkable gig at the Vortex.
on Fabienne Ambuehl’s Thrive
Rawicz’s Big Visit duo partner pianist Gwilym Simcock is significant on the upcoming record. Check out the live versions of album tracks so far including ‘A-Z’ and a certain balm so beautifully conveyed found on ‘Ballroom.’
We liked the busy nature of ‘Colours’ where you get more a hard hitting jazz-rock feel that recalls the heat and earthy excitement of peak period The Impossible Gentlemen. The laidback offbeats and chunky bass on ‘Parity’ open things up.
There are plenty of points of entry on the album. On this track you find for instance tremendously characterful sax playing from Vinson known for his work with Trio Grande.
Both Vinson and Le Fleming while from the UK lived in the States for years and are now back on the UK scene.
Le Fleming’s best bits on the album include his work on ‘Where Would We Be’ which has some atmospheric contributions from avant singer Beraha. Check Le Fleming with Coldplay’s Chris Martin on the monasticism of ‘Wandering Talk’ released last year.
Certainly they all fuse well with Cuban drummer Ernesto Simpson whose work we know most from his tenure with Phil Robson on 2011’s The Immeasurable Code. Ant is a bit Robson-like on ‘Parity’ and ‘Tbilisi.’
Stylistically Law is interested in combining tonal centres on a track like ‘Stereopticon’. Look for the album that Ant is putting out himself to be released in late-June.
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